Will said: I think the source of the confusion here was that Mr. C's 3:30 am tainted post was confused when it saw that the references to Mobley and Anderson that followed the initial sentence were not in respective order... One guy stood around and watched - referred back to the latter of the 2 stated names, where as the second comment...the other guy created the action referred to the first mentioned player. Sorry, maybe I should stop posting 9:00 am work posts...
Again, my proverbial question: Any mention of Tmo? I haven't been home or talked to our old coach in a while, but I'd like to find out how much he's been working out this summer, and if he played at all w/ SF in College Park.
Couldn't agree more Will. I find it ironic that Moochie Norris, Cuttino Mobley and Walt Williams can fit the Rockets system, but Scottie Pippen and Shandon Anderson couldn't. There are people who blame Rudy T, especially on the Pippen front. Funny how Pippen's stats continue to fall AFTER he left Houston, even when he was supposed to be the go-to guy on Portland, and then Francis comes out and says what we have been saying about Shandon Anderson. I'm not comparing Anderson to Pippen attitude wise because Shandon was/is a team player, but to blame the Rockets system is a copout.
Now this is a strange thing for me to say, especially since I vehemnetly taunt Cato and his lacklustre attitude as much as (if not more) than some here .... but I will say it anyway ..... The Preamble Here is one of the things that happened on a couple of occasions soon after Cato joined the team. There was a "... Hi how are ya? ..." period like there is in all walks of life when the participants kinda get to know everyone. In time players will began to clique-off with one another, spot one another up, sit and jaw with one another. Hakeem approached Cato several times initially, about working out together, "sharing" some insight or whatever. Cato talked about playing with Hakeem and what a thrill ... blah,blah,blah .... but most observers did not really buy into that. Cato remained aloof, held himself outside, etc .... when it came to dealings with Hakeem. Two years ago Hakeem made statements like ... "Some people do not want (my advice)" ..... " It's hard to help when some people don't think they need it " ... "These young guys should be happy having all of us around .... they don't know what we know yet. They think they do, but they don't." ... Once he was asked post a heavy scrimmage practice and breakout out (guards, forwards,centers/bigmen all seperate)when tempers were flaring, and everyone was in a funk .... the team had just came off a hard road trip recently with a horrible w/l performance ... I can still see Hakeem shaking his head. He was being asked what he thought of the recent road trip, etc .... He says: "That you learn. That's is what we learn here (ed note: presumably in practice). You need to be together. You need to be helping each other ... in practice and before ... you have to know you have to practice and learn from someone who has been there....". When he was questioned further to elaborate, he just said: "Some (of these guys) don't think they can learn anymore. I try to help, but they (in practice) they don't want to learn." I remember posting something about this way back then. How It apopeared he was singling out Cato. he had banged with him all day and talked to him, or tried throughout the practice. The Point I think the ego, or the .... "I'm a man in the NBA, don't bother me, I know my game" ... {my quotes} ... that Cato was portarying at the time hurt his development. I think he was put out and could not handle a situation where he had to platoon with an aging, sometimes hurt Hakeem. I think he was miffed even more when Hakeem as aged and sometimes hurt as he was, could still out play him any day of the week. He missed the best opportunity he ever had to learn from one of the best of all time. I think pride is still what hurts Cato's game. In those few opportunities when he shines in a game, it takes only a minor criticism either from teammates, or the media or whoever .... maybe something as simple as not getting enough pats on the back after a particualrly stellar play ... whatever .... and he sulks, pouts and whines. "Nobody apprectiates me". When it gets bad enough, he simply fouls himself right back to the bench. "I'm NOT going to play anymore. Nobody loves me. I'm taking my ball and going home to mommy." {my quotes} The Conclusion This may be the year for him. I hope so. I never thought this was a talent problem. This was a pride problem hidden and always demonstrated as a motivational battle. And, as Pat Riley once said: " If I have to spend value time trying to motivate a grown man who is paid millions of dollars to play a game he loves .... well ..... " Time for Cato to put away the little boys toys, take a deep breath and join the men on the court. Going back to my statement at the top: .... this is a strange thing for me to say, especially since I vehemnetly taunt Cato and his lacklustre attitude as much as (if not more) than some here .... I am begiinning to think more and more that this could be a breakout year for Mr. Kelvin Cato.
Well said ... except, how does he now learn the things that Hakeem is no longer available to teach him?
Steve assessments are right on. First, we need Cato to HUSTLE, BLOCK SHOTS, AND REBOUND. If he averages more than 10 points a game, that's cake and ice cream. Second, Steve must keep the other point guards VERY honest by getting into the offensive flow. He must be able to determine if the team needs his scoring, rebouding, or assists. This year team should be able to score more, which should provide more opportunities for steve to drive and dish. Third, the team desperately needs a backup center, Collier is not the answer. I don't care about the weight, I look at the heart and he is not the answer. MoTaylor as a backup center is not the answer either. Can anyone say Marc Jackson for the 100 millionth time. Fourth, Glen Rice must produce and it is time for DanL to take Walt's place in the rotation. Walt has had his shot and did horribly. I would use Dan, Walt, or TMorris at the 2 to spell Cat. Fifth, Cat must up his assist total from last year with nice dishes to the big men (Cato and Taylor) for easy scores. Everyone in the league knows he his going to shot. He must also realize when his jumper is not going and do something different Last, I will watch all 82 games with high expectations.
Francis is quoted as saying: "He also added the Rockets need a big man, which is why Kelvin Cato is so important" Cato may be important, but me thinks Francis knows something we may not, i.e. that the Rockets are working on getting another center - "the Rockets need a big man". Maybe Cato is important in that transaction... Why else would he call him a 42 million dollar bust?
I hope you are right OP. I have played with so many players like that. Most of the time is spent massaging their egos and when the game is over and you have lost, you realize you should of just played the game.
First, you can't possibly know that Collier won't be a decent back up center. We've only seen him in a handful of games. None of us has any idea what type of skills he has, let alone heart. Unless you know him personally, you are making assumptions you cannot possibly back up. Second, bringing in Marc Jackson isn't exactly an answer for Cato's pride problems. As it stands, he is now THE MAN at center. Collier won't challenge his starter's role and there is no other center on the roster. He knows now that he has to play well and remain in games for the team to succeed. Bringing in Jackson would be like saying the team doesn't trust Cato to do the job, which would not be good for him. Personally, I think Cato could stand some therapy for his lack of self-esteem, but that's another issue. I truly believe the guy has the skills to make this a very good team. I want a season of Cato as the main guy at center to build his confidence and see if he can rise to the occassion. I get the sense from everything I've read that Cato would rather have the spotlight and pressure to perform if HE ALONE is relied upon for it. When he is easily replaced, it seems like he feels unwanted. It's silly for most of us, but it obviously is a real problem for him and the team can't just ignore it. I hope that this season is his chance to do SOMETHING with his career. We'll see.
What's up with people suddenly popping up and saying Collier "doesn't have heart"? The guy had a knee injury that kept him out most of the year. Instead of sulking, or rehabbing just enough to be healthy, he decided to try and improve his strength and conditioning and make himself a better player, that shows heart to me. And in the limited time he played last year he showed the potential of being a quality center off the bench. And what I think Will meant was the difference between Shandon and Mobley was one adapted, and the other failed to. Shandon never adapted to the system, while the system tried numerous times tried to adapt to Shandon. He just didn't fit.
-Jeff I agree 100%. If his performance goes down during the season, he will have to face the media and his teammates. There will be no one else to blame but himself. Maybe then Kelvin Cato will learn what kind of performance the Rockets expect out of him.
Will, But the most passion comes at night, *after hitting the hay.* Sometimes you have to write to get back to bed, and sometimes I get lazy about using the BBS to cure it. *sigh* I'm supposed to be writing sumpin else for heyschweetie.....<font size="1">go figure, cause you know I have that jealousy thing going on with your writing. </font> anyhow, my point that got lost in my thrill to tell you to watch MORE GAMES and buy the League Pass this year....you too Almu....this bbs needs its legends to witness this Rocket's growth ....anyhow, my point was that I think it is wrong to even mention Shandon's problems in the same breath as Mobley....be it a parable or not. (Francis didn't, did he.) To me it is like the argument that Pippen's lack of effectiveness was due to Barkley. Clearly from the quotes Jeff provides, we have a PG here saying that Shandon had problems with feeling left out...which takes us back to the Francis waving off Shandon incidents. If anything, the parable is a scoring machine PG (unlike Stockton) waving off Shandon, but we would never say Shandon and Francis in the same parable...would we? It is an injustice to say Francis' game was a parable to Shandon's. All I'm saying is that the same holds true to Mobley. Using Mobley in a parable about Shandon is as wrong as using Francis in one. Shandon just can't shoot! Utah ran a pick n roll with two hall-of-famers and that left the weakside highly vulnerable to attack when the defense overplayed the pnr...Shandon capitalized. He couldn't capitalize with us...sorry dude...that's sad isn't it Shandon. And as Francis says....it wasn't the team's fault. It is not the team's fault for not fitting a one-dimensional player into the offense...it is supposed to be the other way around. It is not a parable of Mobley and Shandon, anymore than it is a parable of Francis and Shandon. In fact, the difference between Stockton and Francis is the best parable for why Shandon couldn't feel involved. Using Mobley as the excuse is a parable to show our homeyism towards Francis for being beyond reproach. Hell, maybe we can talk about the parable of Francis and Hakeem while we are at it. Barkley and Pippen. There....oooohhhhh....that felt good. I really, really liked Shandon at the beginning. But the moment he raised issues with our point guard about being waved off *during* play in a game, all bets are off regarding a non-dribbling, non-shooter who feels left out. The moment I saw that I'm thinking this role player has the audacity to tell a star point guard where to pass the ball....like he EVER would have even thought of doing that to Stockton. Total lack of respect for the PG and the PG position, in general. Then again, that is a golden rule of mine from playing team ball....You never question the point guard during a game, he has too much on his mind. I lost respect for Shandon being a team player when he started telling Francis where to pass the ball. It doesn't matter if you are even right, Shandon; you do not do it!
I'm not sure if this has been discussed elsewhere, but two things about the article stuck out to me, one positive, one negative; Positive: SW's comments on the dearly departed (Shandon, Olajuwon) sort of put to rest the immediate concerns that he might be peeved at breaking up the old gang...That is reinforced by his desire to maintain those still here. Maybe Shandon in particular wasn't as vital a part of our team chemistry as supposed, and Stevie seems to be taking the "Good for him." approach re: Dream... Negative: Stevie's comment about focusing more on scoring...While I recognize that getting SW to do just that has been a goal of RT for a while, I think that the team has changed since, and I think that we have a surplus of scoring and a deficit of secondary contributions, such as rebounding, as is...With Stevie shifting his emphasis towards offense, I am even more concerned about where all the touches are going to come from...One of the defenses other BBS members made when we acquired Rice, and re-signed Taylor, was that Stevie helped to compensate for our terrible rebounders at the F spots, and that the presence of so many score-first players was alleviated by Francis' desire to do other things as well as, or more than, score... And, to pre-empt the easy response, Stevie made these comments AFTER we got Rice. As such, RT simply taking him aside and suggesting new priorities isn't as easy as all that, especially if that has been SW's off-season focus. RT has been saying for a while that he wants to get Steve to look for his shot more, and asking him to change after he finally adapts is a clumsy move...
Shandon was very effective in each of the last 3 games of the year. The Rockets won all 3 games, and Rudy DID NOT call plays, Larry Smith did. Why is that ironic? Walt fits "the system" because he is a spot up shooter. Mobley fits the system because it is built around him. And Mobley DID NOT fit the system when he was a rookie playing the point position, it was an ugly thing to watch. Is it ironic that Glen Rice can't fit the Knicks' system?
